One of the more intriguing aspects of legal sports betting in Texas is not the possibility of legal options coming in 2027 potentially. Lawmakers and other politicians keep trying to come up with something. In the meantime, there is a full-blown college scandal that leaves Texas Tech with a Texas sized dilemma that threatens the NCAA landscape in more ways than one.
The perceived battle is not what bettors or anyone were expecting. Most assumed that online betting sites were going to be in big states like Texas by now. However, legal battles seem to be the “soup of the day”. Brandon Sorsby will become a pariah one way or the other. Either he gets jettisoned to the NFL ultimately or Texas Tech faces one very uncertain future.
Few experts counted on Sorsby getting a Hail Mary from Lubbock. That is just what happened last week. However, the news keeps evolving. When the temporary injunction came, it was suspicious to begin with. Temporarily, Sorsby was to be reinstated. This is a college player who bet over $90,000 on college football. He only ducked into a gambling rehab facility when the story broke.
The road remains full of Texas level cow manure here. It is murky and expected to get uglier and uglier as the summer goes on. For Texas Tech boosters and alumnus this cannot be an easy pill to swallow. All this coming with NIL money and everything else seems to poison the pot even more.
Texas Tech and Sorsby have a big ally of sorts. Yes, the Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton has jumped into the fray. Imagine also seeing some very telling and jarring facts. For a state that seems to like its cases and scandals big, this is gigantic. Naturally, while this is not Las Vegas level, Texas has something here with could mushroom into a nuclear winter of sorts in college football and beyond.
Ross Dellinger was the first to report on the formal letter sent to the Big 12 today. Again, this is far from the only shot and ups the stakes obviously. Every penalty levied will be met with legal action. One sort of positive is that this is going to come to a head.
The fact that Texas Tech is seeking a second injunction is telling. Obviously, the first injunction is not expected to hold up on appeal. At least, that is what some legal scholars believe. Also, it could be that the second one could be more comprehensive. Whatever the case is, this will not be kicked down the can anymore. Sorsby is going to get a decision here
Again, Texas legal betting news has just kicked up the spice level to ghost and maybe beyond. Remember that whole innocent beef with Texas and Texas Tech and scheduling? That seems like a lifetime ago compared to what will become quite a mess. Now, the Red Raiders have their interpretation besides the one of Sorsby.
The one reason why Texas Tech feels like it has done nothing wrong is simple. Hey, people are not astonished that the second biggest state in the nation simply saw a school flexing its muscle. Again, their assertion is the other schools did not catch this. If various deposit methods became legal, that might have prevented this whole thing from snowballing in the first place.
Here lies the problem. Big 12 schools, Big 10 schools, SEC schools, and more are not going to be happy with this. Period! There is a twist here. If anyone is wondering about the court of appeals in Texas, all four justices graduated from yes, Texas Tech. Anyone who believed something like this was not possible was dead wrong. Once college athletes got paid, more money was going to cause more problems.
Unfortunately, the crypto sportsbooks have proven to be pretty reliable in the bigger states especially Texas. Bovada and BetOnline have scored well with Texas residents who want to bet on sports, politics, etc. Bitcoin payments have been reliable and take the banks out of the equation. Funny enough, there was one aspect that some sports bettors noticed.
Yes, what about more snowball effects? This is something that can have far-reaching impacts. Again, Brandon Sorsby went to multiple schools, gambled on sports (including college football), and no one caught him while he was underage. By the time, he was caught, there were so many wagers made. Even At Texas Tech, Sorsby was using off-shore betting proxies.
The offshore markets are not concerned with who is betting typically. While it’s true that the NCAA was bound to catch up to Sorsby, the problem is other colleges and conferences may make it impossible of very difficult. Think of the options other schools have here. One interesting twist is allowing Sorsby to play in Texas and make it illegal for the quarterback to take the field anywhere else.
Some pundits and fans alike keep asking what is the best solution. From a legal standpoint, Texas Tech may not have the brightest PR department but the Red Raiders have not done anything wrong. However, the slope is slippery and this could get away from them very quickly.
With the World Cup now here, soccer will become rabidly popular in Texas. The amount of money wagered will again be in the billions with states like Texas leading the way. The Sorsby story will be a major player throughout the summer as we get closer and closer to the 2026-27 college football season.
